Two 20-year-old Thet ethnic children were killed and a 75-year-old man injured in Ma Kyee Kone village, located in the 4th Mile area of Maungdaw — a western border town in Arakan State — when a hand grenade they were playing with exploded.
A villager from Ma Kyee Kone said, “The children were playing with a grenade they had found, throwing it at each other. The safety pin came off, and the grenade exploded. One child died on the spot, and another died on the way to emergency medical treatment.”
When the two children from Ma Kyee Kone village were playing with an unexploded hand grenade they had found in the forest in front of the village at around 1:00 pm on May 8 when the grenade detonated.
When at around 1:00 pm on 8 May, two children from Ma Kyee Kone village were playing with an unexploded hand grenade they had found in the forest near the village when the safety pin came off.
U Aung Thet Tun, 75, was also injured by the blast while returning from watering cows a short distance away when the hand grenade exploded.
U Aung Thet Tun’s daughter said, “My father had just returned after watering the cows. He was fortunate to survive, as he was quite a distance away from the site of the grenade explosion. If he had been any closer, he might have died. He is currently receiving treatment, but he is struggling to get proper medical care due to financial difficulties.”
Ma Kyee Kone village, located in the 4th Mile area of Maungdaw, is home to both Thet and Arakanese people, with over 250 households residing there.
The Arakha People’s Revolutionary Government has been conducting educative talks on the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), erecting warning signboards, and distributing pamphlets about the risks of landmines in Arakan State.
It is also actively working on clearing landmines.
However, due to weak compliance with orders among locals, landmine explosions continue to occur frequently, causing numerous deaths and injuries among residents.
Sent by Narinjara